Peter AC Nelson

Grottspace is a virtual art gallery based on a site reconstruction of an 18th century picturesque grotto in Sydney. As an interactive environment it presents three exhibitions by emerging Australian artists – Claudia Nicholson, Sarah Poulgrain + Llewellyn Millhouse and Philippe Vranjes. The Grottspace is a revision of the white cube - the picturesque was the aesthetics of the English rural aristocracy who, having enclosed the common lands, constructed gardens that sought to naturalise the position of their owners. In 1826, the grotto in Sydney was constructed on land that had been reserved for the Sydney Aboriginal community, but was subsequently gifted to a newly arrived colonial administrator. Where the white cube pretends it is not a church or an institution, Grottspace declares itself as a space where artworks are stolen, transformed, and dispersed.